Going for the Gold
by amoment
Summary: Kurt is headed for the summer Olympics in London and he has one thing on his mind: bringing home the medals. Do his motives change, however, when he meets a certain diver from Italy named Blaine?
1. Chapter 1

Kurt stands on the edge of the platform, staring straight ahead into the vast, bright area around him. He takes a deep breath and closes his eyes, taking time to revel in what his life had become.

* * *

It started at an early age, his obsession with water. Well, plunging artistically into water, to be more exact. He was at the pool on a particularly hot July day, sitting on the cement edge with his feet skimming the top of the water, letting ripples form and flow further out. His dad was sitting in a chair nearby reading the newspaper, every so often glancing up to see Kurt sitting in the same spot. Kurt looked over toward the deepest end of the pool where the diving board sat and watched as teenagers jumped off the end and broke the water with large cannon balls, laughing the whole time. He was intrigued by their laughter, wanting desperately to be a part of it; he stood up slowly and made his way over hesitantly toward the group.

"Can, uhm, can I try that?" He asked a girl standing to the side, smiling at her friend who was bouncing on the end of the board. She looked down at Kurt and giggled.

"Hey little man, you want to jump? You can swim?" She asked him, a little reluctant.

"Yes," he murmured sheepishly, though he was rolling his eyes internally. Of course he could, he'd been taking swimming lessons since he was a baby and his mother would take him to "mommy and me" classes. It became ritual from then on that lasted for years, he would go to swim class and his mother and he would get ice-cream after. After she died his dad told Kurt that he didn't have to take them anymore, but he did. He wanted to.

"Alright kiddo," the girl said as she watched her friend pencil jump into the water, "go for it." He stepped up the latter and walked out toward the edge, shielding his eyes from the sun. He looked down at the water, then looked up again, bent his knees and dove. It wasn't much, just a small somersault before he straightened out somewhat and hit the water with a surprisingly little splash. He swam back to the edge of the pool and climbed out to the sound of surprised laughter and cheers from the group of teens watching. The girl high-fived him and ruffled his hair, "You're not so bad kid," she laughed. Kurt blushed and shrugged his shoulders.

His dad had seen the whole thing, watching in awe as his son dove from the board with almost perfect form. He didn't understand where it came from, he always knew Kurt was interested in swimming, but never even put a thought to diving. He asked Kurt later that night if he wanted to do it more, he rattled off the idea of finding a coach and taking private lessons, he didn't want to push his son but the look on the kid's face after that dive was priceless. He had never seen his son that happy, that invigorated by something and he wanted that feeling for Kurt, more than anything.

* * *

So here Kurt stands, eleven years and twenty five championship medals later, on a platform in the Kennedy Shriver Aquatics Center, training with the rest of his diving team for the summer Olympics. He didn't know how any of it happened; he's just a seventeen year old from Lima, Ohio. Just a boy who holds a love for diving and a dream for success. He has been spending days on end for as long as he could remember training and practicing and striving to be better than anyone before him. It isn't a pride thing really, it's more of him knowing he deserves better for himself then to sit around and be miserably stuck in his small town forever. So train and train and train he does; day in and day out. It's all been worth it, though. He is a star, an athletic hero, winning his first medal at the age of nine during a state championship shortly before moving on to bigger things on a national level.

He turns around on the board and takes another deep breath, rolling his shoulders back and straightening his posture. And then he's free, he's flying, tucking and contorting his body into flip after flip. It's as if he has all the time in the world to soar through the air, as if he himself can control when he hits the water, and when he straightens his body out at the last second and the tips of his fingers break the surface it feels _perfect_. His body thrives off the feeling of water enveloping around him as he plunges deeper down.

"Hummel!" He hears his coach yell as he pulls himself up onto the side of the pool. He runs a hand through his dripping hair, slicking it back and walks toward the bench to grab a towel. Sebastian, his longtime friend and team mate, gives him a thumbs up as he walks by. Kurt nods his head and smiles. "Kurt," his coach yells his name again; he sighs and turns to face him.

"What's wrong?" He asks. His coach, who was a short man with a comically red face, shakes his head at Kurt. He crosses his arms. Kurt raises his eyebrows.

"You missed it." He says this simply, casually yet frustration and disappointment clearly laces his rough voice. Kurt throws his head back and looks at the high ceiling.

"Which one?" He asks, not looking down. He plays the dive over again in his head, he can't recall missing anything.

"The one you keep missing, Kurt, the fourth somersault right before the twist," he pinches the bridge of his nose. "You can't keep messing up this dive. It's the big one."

"I'll get it." He can't tell who he's trying to reassure more; himself or his coach.

"We're ten days out."

"I'll get it!" His yell echoes around the large area, bouncing off the water. He flinches, he never yells. He hates feeling like those pretentious athletes who think they know best and tell off their coaches, who actually do know best. "Sorry," he mutters. His coach rests his hand on Kurt's shoulder and offers him a small nod.

"Go home. Get some sleep. I'll see you tomorrow." He's being surprisingly nice about the situation, and Kurt wasn't going to question it so he packs his bag quickly and slings it over his shoulder, heading toward the locker room. Sebastian is pulling a shirt over his head as Kurt walks in and set his bag down.

"That was pretty great," he says. Kurt sits down on the bench and fiddles with the lock on his locker. He shrugs his shoulders.

"Not the best though."

"But still pretty good." Kurt turns his head to look at Sebastian and offers him a half grin.

"How 'bout you? Are you ready?" Sebastian lets out a laugh, shaking his head.

"Yeah, as ready as I can be," he pauses, the corner of his lips twitching up. "Kurt, we've grown up dreaming about this and now we're ten days away and I can't believe it's actually happening." Kurt was smiling now too, giddy energy chasing through his veins.

"It's pretty big isn't it?" He asks as they walk out of the building together and toward their cars.

"Not at all," Sebastian deadpans sarcastically. Kurt chuckles and pushes Sebastian lightly with his shoulder. He reaches his car and opens the door, leaning over the top.

"I'll see you tomorrow," he calls over to Sebastian, who is now getting into his own car.

"Bright and early," Sebastian chirps back, sliding in a closing his door.

They now have one day before they leave for London, and a week and a half until opening ceremonies. It's an understatement to say that Kurt is nervous. He's been in the pool, diving at ungodly hours trying to perfect his inward 4 and a twist, and at some times he does, others he isn't so lucky. Every other dive in the book wasn't an issue for him; he was the best diver, a favorite going into the Olympics, so why couldn't he perfect this one simple dive?

"Kurt?" Mercedes nudges his ribs, shaking him from his deep concentration. He rubs his eyes and looks over at her. They're lying in his bed, having one last sleep over and watching Ferris Bueller. It was ridiculously late and Kurt knew he needed rest but he was fighting sleep so he wouldn't lose time to spend with his best friend before he leaves. "You okay?"

He lifts his chin up and nods. "Yeah, yeah. I'm fine. Just thinking…" He trails off. The movie ends and the credits begin to roll. "I wish you could come with me."

"I do too. But I'll call you every night or morning or whatever." She laughs, "I'm gonna have to figure out this whole time zone thing soon, huh?" Kurt giggles and nods, yawning. "You better tell me all the juicy details about the cute guys you hook up with," she says suddenly, sitting up to look at Kurt. He rolls his eyes in return.

"Right, Mercedes. I'm going to win gold, not score in bed with a bunch of other random athletes. I'm pretty sure that's what everyone is focus on too."

"Oh c'mon! I know this is your first Olympics but I thought you would know anyway, even I know." She was smiling at him in a way that worried Kurt; he never liked what was attached to smiles like the one she was giving him.

"Know what?" He asks, but immediately feels like he shouldn't have. She raises her eyebrows and pulls her computer onto the bed, loading an article from espn. She points at the screen and Kurt begins reading. By the time he's halfway down the page which has numerous accounts of athletes sharing stories of how the Olympic Village is basically one big frat party and he doesn't know if he wants to throw up or laugh. Or both.

"This has to be a joke," he says, leaning back onto his pillow. "The Olympic Village is sooo not a sex fest. That's ridiculous." Mercedes shrugs.

"I don't know Kurt, it's kind of believable. A bunch of good looking, crazy talented people all in one area…I mean c'mon. I'd be all over the men's gymnastics teams." Kurt swats her arm and laughs.

"Okay, okay. Well I'M not going to partake in…that. I don't want to focus on anything but bringing home gold." He yawns again, sliding under his covers. Mercedes purses her lips.

"Sure," she murmurs. Kurt rolls his eyes and lets his lids fall shut over them. Though sleep evades him as his mind is flooded with thoughts.

It's early when he wakes, only catching a few hours of sleep, they eat a quick breakfast, rushing to finish packing him as they stuff bagels in their mouths then drive Kurt to the airport. His dad was going to fly in a few days later, right before opening ceremonies and stay at a hotel a couple of miles out.

"I'll see you in a couple of days, kiddo," He murmurs, wrapping his son in a tight hug. He checks his luggage in after saying his goodbyes and spots the rest of his teammates near security.

"Hey Hummel!" A few of the guys call as he approaches them. He smiles and waves. Rex, a particularly rowdy teammate, pounces at Kurt once he's close enough to them.

"Good to see you, man." He says, grinning.

"LONDON. TWENTY TWELVE. IT'S. HAPPENING!" He's screaming directly into Kurt's ear, causing him to stumble backward, a few people nearby look toward their direction and giggle at the sight. Sebastian walks over and shimmies in front of Kurt.

"This is it," he grins, practically shaking out of his own skin. Kurt grasps onto his shoulders to steady him, though he's smiling as well.

"This is it," he repeats.

They board their plane a little while later, Sebastian sits next to Kurt, Rex and their friend Adrian sitting behind them.

"Mercedes was showing me this article last night…." Kurt starts, turning to look at Sebastian. He keeps his voice down so nobody around him could hear. "It's crazy. Like, apparently people are saying the Olympic Village is one big sex party or something?" Rex leans forward between the seats and looks between Sebastian and Kurt.

"Uhh, that's because it is one big sex party. Dude back in '04, I can't tell you how many girls I slept. But there was this one; she was weight lifter from Australia. Let me tell you-"

"Please don't," Kurt interjects, cutting him off, he pushes him back with his hand. Adrian was laughing loudly, offering Rex a high-five. Kurt leans his head back against the seat.

"I heard. I'm so fucking excited!" Kurt looks up and frowns at Sebastian, not really the response he was expecting from him.

"Seriously? Why?"

"Don't be such a prude man; it's going to be fun."

"I'm not being a prude," he sneers back. "I'm being responsible. I didn't train this hard my entire life just to go and fuck some guys. I'm going for gold."

"Me too," Sebastian reassures him. "Buuuut, I'm also going to fuck some guys." He smirks. A hand shoots through the middle of the seats, Sebastian goes to high-five it.

"Stop it, Rex," Kurt turns around completely in his seat and barks at him. The hand next to his face lowers slowly back down.

The next few hours are rather quiet. Kurt shuts his eyes and immediately falls asleep; Sebastian turns to his iPad to watch a movie, and Rex and Adrian use the time to mentally prepare for their snycro event together. They were the first of the divers to compete for the USA team, their first event being the morning after opening ceremonies.

The plane lands earlier than anyone was expecting it to. Sebastian wakes Kurt, shaking him a little. "Yo, man. We're here." Kurt rubs his face and tries to roll the kinks from his neck, immediately regretting falling asleep in such an awkward position. He turns to look out the window and his jaw drops completely. The view his eyes are met with is unmistakably the most beautiful he's ever seen. They were currently flying over the River Thames, which was much larger and more vast than Kurt imagined it to be. He could spot little signs here and workers hustle about the streets, and then he saw it, the large iconic rings reminding him that he has finally made it. His eyes mist up and chills race across the surface of his skin. Rex leans forward and rubs Kurt's shoulders.

"You're an Olympian, bro. It's official."

"I guess I am," he breathes out. His voice is light. He's currently residing on cloud nine, further than cloud nine actually. "If I ask you to pinch me would you call me cliché?" He asks, erupting in a fit of nervous giggles.

Sebastian leans over and pinches his wrist. "You aren't dreaming," he affirms is a teasing tone and shoots Kurt a wink. Kurt grins at him then returns his attention to the window. He rests his forehead against the cool glass and watches as the plane ever so gradually nears the ground.

Soon they're all piling into a shuttle car. Kurt pulls his backpack onto his lap to make room for Sebastian to sit beside him. They begin chatting excitedly about what they plan to do with the rest of their evening; they were going to make the best of it considering their coach was crazy enough to give them the night off from practice. Adrian sits forward in his seat to say something to Kurt but is interrupted by a woman in tan pants and a blue windbreaker with a London 2012 logo on the front getting into the driver's seat.

"Hello boys! Welcome to London. My name's Amanda," She turns to smile at them and they return the greeting. She looks out the passenger side window, "and once your coach gets in the car I can take you lot over to the village. I'll start going over some things while we wait, how 'bout that?" She pauses to start the car then continues talking. "Now I'm sure you've been briefed on a lot of what I'm about to tell you already but I'm just going to give you all the details and everything again, okay?" Kurt nods his head enthusiastically while the others just smile and shrug. She turns around in her seat to look at them better. "Your luggage is going to be brought to your apartments by a separate shuttle, so you'll get all of your other belongings later on. For apartments, it's spilt up by teams so you all will be in a shared apartment and I believe…." She pulls a clipboard from her bag, "your apartment is three bedrooms and it's two to a bedroom so you're also sharing with the volleyball team."

"The women's volleyball team?" Rex asks. Amanda turns a glare in his direction.

"The apartments are separated by gender, young man," She responds. Rex puts his hands up and grins.

"Hey, hey. It was worth a shot." Kurt snickers into the sleeve of his jacket. "Worth a shot." Rex repeats, clearly proud of himself.

"But why volleyball?" Sebastian questions. "Shouldn't we be roomed with like swimming or something?"

"I don't make the room assignments, I just administer them!" Her tone is sassy, but still friendly. Kurt decides he likes her. "But back to what I was saying, there is a small information center in Team USA's block of the village and it is there for any question or request you may have. That's where you will pick up your apartment information and keys. There are an abundance of stores and restaurants in the village, it was designed to meet the needs and desires of every athlete, if you can't seem to find something for any reason then you can put a request in at the information desk and one of our workers will do their best to get whatever you need. There's an athlete's gym in the village as well and your training facilities are just outside of the area." Their coach is in the car now and they're driving, Amanda continues to hurdle information at them and Kurt's beginning to feel overwhelmed. He glances over at Sebastian who offers him a grin. "There are eleven different residential plots, and yours has four other blocks inside which are housing Teams Canada, Australia, Ireland, and Italy."

"That's random. Did you guys have some sort of system to plan these?" Rex looks up from his phone, his brows furrowed. "I mean, not that I'm complaining. I'm not complaining. I'm sorry."

Amanda laughs, "I don't make the room assignments…"

"You just administer them," Rex finishes, smiling. They're now pulling into tall gates; Kurt's mouth falls open for the second time today, he looks out his window as they enter the village. Buildings stood on either side of the road, a large pond was straight ahead surrounded by a park-like area with trees dotting the ground everywhere. Amanda drove them around the entirety of the village showing them the shops and places before pulling up to their building.

"And we have arrived! Your home for the next few weeks!" She parks the car and the boys cheer as they climb out one by one. Once Kurt's feet hit the ground he feels it. He feels the excitement, the buzz, the thrill. It's as if every athlete's emotions are burning through the pavement and running through the atmosphere, amplifying everything Kurt is already feeling. He turns in a circle on the spot, trying to take in as much as he can in the moment. A large fountain sat at the front of their building complex, there's a group of girls doing hand stands and taking pictures of each other near it. The girls take notice of them as they get closer and start whispering frantically to one another. Finally a short girl with long dark brown hair and big eyes walk over to them.

"Hi!" She says to Kurt, she glances shortly at the others but her eyes seemed to be trained onto Kurt's face. "I'm Rachel Berry. And you're Kurt Hummel."

Kurt laughs nervously, "Uhm, yes I am. I know who you are though! I saw you compete one time, you're incredible!" Rachel's face turns white and her eyes grow impossibly wider.

"I- me and." She stutters over her words and points mindlessly behind her, towards the rest of her team. "We're huge fans!" Kurt looks over at the other girls and grins widely. He wouldn't have imagined in a million years that other athletes would be fans of _him_, it just wasn't a concept he ever considered. He stares back at Rachel until he realizes she had asked him for a picture.

"Oh! Yeah, yeah of course!" He answers, turning to give a surprised look toward his friends. They all stifle their laughter. Rachel ushers her friends over and she shoves her iPhone into Adrian's hands.

"Of course I'll take a picture for you," he mutters in fake enthusiasm. He snaps the picture and the girls thank him and take off in the other direction.

"I'll talk to you later!" Rachel calls over her shoulder. Kurt smiles and waves.

"That was weird. I can't believe I just got fawned over by gymnastics world champion Rachel Berry?" He lets out a breathy laugh.

"Oh my god, Kurt." Sebastian was right on Kurt's heels, practically breathing down his neck.

"I know!"

"No, Kurt. Look!" He points his finger across the street where a group of men were walking. "Tom Daley." Sebastian whispers, his finger still in the air. Kurt rolls his eyes and pushes Sebastian's arm down.

"Not you too," Kurt murmurs. Sebastian straightens his posture, smoothing out the front of his shirt.

"I'm sure as shit not going to fawn over him. I have a plan, obviously. I'll get to know him, all calm and everything. Win him over and then you know." He nudges Kurt in the ribs and winks.

"Oh my god, Seb. Is he even gay?"

"I don't think it matters here, we're all so good looking and all." Kurt raises his eyebrows. "It doesn't matter! Does it matter?" Sebastian asks Rex who shakes his head, a smirk pulling at his lips. "See?" Kurt sighs and walks ahead toward the information center in the lobby of their building to pick up their room keys. He pulls the front doors open and strides in without paying attention and walks straight into someone walking out.

"Ah, I'm sorry!" He cries, reaching out to touch the person's shoulder. The man turns around to look at Kurt and he's pretty sure he's looking into the face of a god. Warm hazel eyes look back into his, and if those didn't give away the man's happy attitude his smile sure did. His lips pull tight across his face, resulting in a single dimple on his right cheek.

"No, no. I'm sorry!" The man answers, still smiling, and Kurt thought he was going to melt right there because oh my god, the accent that just came out of this person's mouth was so perfect it wasn't fair.

"My fault," Kurt says. His voice sounds distracted, he realizes his hand is still resting on the man's shoulder. He pats it quickly and drops his arm. "I'm sorry, that was totally my fault." He tries a little too hard to sound calm and composed. The man laughs and scratches the back of his neck.

"Well then, I accept your apology." Kurt smiles back at him, stepping out of the way so he can get through. "I'll see you later?" The man asks. Kurt blinks a few times before nodding. Adrian gives him an odd look. He tones down his head nods, color rising up his neck.

"Who was he?" Kurt asks, his voice a little higher than usual. The other boys laugh at him.

"I thought you were going for the gold?" Sebastian questions him in a mocking tone.

"I am," he responds. He looks out the door, watching as the man walks across the street. "I am."


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: In regards to diving terminology and such, know that I don't have any background in diving. Like, at all. I'm getting all of my information on the matter from good ol' google, and if any of it seems off I apologize! If you see anything wrong please feel free to correct me in the comments/message me. I'm trying to go into as much detail as possible with types of dives but if I get anything wrong, forgive my lack of diving knowledge!**

"This is officially the most comfortable bed I've ever had the pleasure to lay on," Kurt groans. He's sprawled out on his back like a starfish, eyes closed, and head rolling lazily back and forth across the mountain of pillows underneath him. "I'm never moving, ever again." There wasn't really anything special about the bed, only the fact that it was the first real piece of furniture Kurt has laid on since five am that morning. Sebastian is lying in a similar position on the bed across from Kurt's. Their room is surprisingly spacious; with two beds, two dressers, a sitting area, and a television, there's still extra space to spare.

"I'm going to stay here even after the Olympics are over," Sebastian announces. His words come out muffled, however, because he has his head turned into a pillow. Kurt nods in agreement even though Sebastian can't see him from where he is.

The apartment as a whole was more than they were expecting. Rex and Adrian were always going on about how nice the accommodations were in Beijing, but when they opened the door of their London apartment, Adrian had muttered something about it being a thousand times better already. The main living area holds a large, blue L-shaped sofa with an assortment of multi-colored pillows placed strategically across it. A wide, glass coffee table sits in front of it; a flat screen plasma television is mounted to the wall across from the sofa. Then there's a long hallway that branches off two ways, one towards the kitchen, fully equipped with high-end appliances and a pantry filled with food (which probably wasn't going to be put to too much use- none of them cooked, unless of course the two volleyball players staying with them could). The other side of the hall leads to the three bedrooms, all of which are designed similarly but each with different color and pattern schemes. The only downfall to the whole thing is that there's only one bathroom to share with six people. Kurt lets this part slide though, considering the size of it.

"Hey hey! No time for sleep!" Rex yells, barging into Sebastian and Kurt's room unannounced. He flies onto Kurt's bed and falls on top of him. Kurt grumbles and cracks an eye open to find Rex leaning directly above his face.

"Obviously not with you around," he retorts. Rex wags his finger in Kurt's face; he gives Kurt a goofy smile so wide it creates crinkles at the corners of his mischievous eyes.

"Ah, I wouldn't be rude to this man," he says, taking his wagging finger and pointing it at himself, "Not when he's willing to take you around later and meet everybody who's anybody." Kurt snorts and pushes Rex off of him so he can sit up. "You think I'm kidding," Rex continues, sitting on the floor between their beds. "I'll have you know that four years ago I was the coolest kid in the Village." Now both Sebastian and Kurt are looking at Rex with disbelief in their eyes, a hint of laughter on their faces. "Whatever, assholes," he mutters and gets up to walk out of the room. "Come talk to me when you learn to appreciate my coolness." As if on cue, he clips his shoulder on the door frame and trips into the hallway, causing a series of loud thuds.

"That might be a while, Rexy," Adrian jokes as he passes by him. He leans in the door and looks at Kurt and Sebastian. "I'm going for a jog in a little bit then to check out some of the shops, you guys can join if you want." The two look at each other before turning back to Adrian and nodding.

"Just give me a minute," Kurt answers. The rest go to wait for him outside while he pulls one of his suitcases on the bed and digs for his sneakers; he slides them on and takes his phone out to send a quick text to his dad telling him they landed safely and a quick recap of everything he's seen so far.

Well, almost everything.

* * *

It's about a quarter past ten by the time they've toured the majority of the village and Kurt feels like they should really head back to their apartment and get some sleep before practice in the morning, but he doesn't say anything. He'd hate to be the party pooper on their first night there. He harbors his worries in the back of his mind and tries to focus on the moment. Rex and Adrian ran into some of their friends, and then Rachel and her friends had "accidentally" bumped into them while they were passing the salon. Pretty soon their group of four has grown to well over ten or so and they're all situated in the middle of one of the large grassy lawns in-between the apartment blocks. Kurt looks around the circle of people he's sitting with and smiles to himself.

"So Kurt," Rachel says suddenly. She's on the other side of the circle, directly across from him. "I hear you have a birthday coming up." A few people make noise and nod their heads in acknowledgment. "It's next week, right? The twenty-seventh?" Something about the tone Rachel is using makes Kurt uneasy. He pulls his legs up and wraps his arms around them.

"That's the same day as opening ceremony!" Someone mentions.

"…yes," he says hesitantly. Rachel leans over and whispers something in Sebastian's ear, whatever she says causes his eyes to light up. "What?" Kurt questions. He squints his eyes to get a better look at their facial expressions in the darkness.

"What?" Sebastian asks back, trying to play innocent. Everyone snickers; Kurt gives away and grins a tiny bit. Whatever they were planning, he's sure it won't be too bad.

They talk for a while longer, about everything and anything. And even though this is the first time Kurt has met some of these people and a few of them were from a different part of the world, he feels as though they were always supposed to be a part of his life. The soft laughter from their group floats through the cool night air and intertwines with those of people passing by. Music is playing from one of the town houses near them, the wide open door the tunes are escaping from makes Kurt's heart warm for some reason he can't really explain. This is the true meaning of happiness, he decides, watching his surroundings.

The group starts to lessen as people get up and go to bed.

"I'll catch you guys later!" Rachel says as she and her friends walk away.

"See you upstairs," Adrian yawns, rolling onto his stomach and pulling himself up. Rex follows behind him. He still has too much energy for the late hour and tries to jump onto Adrian's back, Adrian slides away at exactly the right moment and Rex flies forward. He recovers quickly and settles for walking next to Adrian, kicking a rock as they make their way back to their building. Sebastian chuckles at the scene and turns to look at Kurt, who gives him a grin. For wanting to go to bed so badly earlier, he doesn't really want to get up from the spot they were sitting anymore. They're the only ones left now, and the Village as a whole seems to have quieted down significantly. The music has stopped, though the person's door is still wide open. Kurt slides down until he's lying on his back and looks up at the sky. It's cloudy, with only few breaks here and there that patches of blackness show through. The moon is almost full, a sliver is missing from the side of it and a calming haze is dancing around its edges.

"I'm so happy," Sebastian murmurs, laying down next to Kurt and moving to rest his head on Kurt's shoulder, "that we're here. That we're both here." Kurt nods his head in agreement.

"I wouldn't have been able to do any of this without you," he admits. "You've kept me going all these years."

"I think you've kept yourself going, really." He looks up at Kurt and gives him a half-smile.

Kurt doesn't know if it's his surroundings that are making him sentimental, or the fact that he's in the midst of living his dream. "I can't think of anyone I would rather be sharing this experience with," he says.

"Aw, Kurt." It's quiet for a few minutes, neither of them saying anything. Sebastian rolls over and props himself up on his elbows. "Hey, Kurt?"

"Yeah?"

"Do you think I have a chance with Tom? Like there's this dumb no alcohol rule in the village so I can't get him drunk or anything." Kurt sits up and frowns at Sebastian.

"Way to go, Seb. You just totally ruined the moment!" He starts laughing though, and Sebastian joins in. They're both still giggling as Kurt gets up and sticks his hand out to help Sebastian up as well.

"I'm being serious, though! How do I talk to him?" He's still going on about it as they head down the street.

Kurt rolls his eyes and tilts his head to look at him. "You've never had a problem talking to guys before, like ever. You were even a flirt in kindergarten." Sebastian lets out a loud laugh, probably too loud for well past midnight.

"This is different though, this is Tom Daley we're talking about Kurt, Tom Daley." Kurt rolls his eyes again.

"So? He's just a person. Are you still going to like him if he beats me in 10m platform?" Sebastian doesn't say anything. He glances over to see him scratching his chin, as if in deep thought. "Seb!" He yells, pushing him off the curb.

"I'm joking! Besides, you know you're going to do great."

"I don't know if coach thinks that."

Sebastian furrows his eyebrows, "What? Why?"

He lets out an exasperated sigh. "I don't know. It's the four and a half somersaults that are tripping me up. I get three in and then I automatically go for the twist." He digs his hands in his pockets as they continue walking. Sebastian nods, knowing exactly which dive Kurt is referring to.

"Yeah, but you've only been doing that dive for like a year now. It's still pretty new for you, and it's a pretty complex one; I wouldn't be able to do it." Kurt doesn't respond, he just sighs and shrugs his shoulders.

They reach their apartment and everyone is already asleep so they make their way to their room as quietly as possible, strip from their clothes, climb in bed, murmur goodnight to each other and turn the lights off.

* * *

It's still early when Kurt wakes up, but for some reason once his eyes are open he can't seem to turn back over and fall asleep. He pushes the covers off of himself and swings his feet over the side of the bed. He glances at his nightstand; the clock sitting atop it reads 4:15 am. Sebastian is sound asleep, snoring softly. Kurt stands up slowly and goes out into kitchen, looking for coffee. He finds some and starts to make a pot; while he waits for it to brew he goes back to his room and pulls on a pair of sweat pants and a tank top. He returns to the kitchen and after searching the kitchen cabinets he finally finds a mug and carries it outside onto the balcony.

Each apartment has its own balcony that overlooks the courtyard in the middle of the building complex. The courtyard is usually used for all of the countries in that complex to socialize in but it is currently a vast empty space. Kurt sits in a chair and kicks his legs up onto the railing, taking in the peaceful scene before him. The sun is just beginning to rise, hiding behind the tall buildings in the far off distance. The sky is a grey-brown color that Kurt would usually call ugly, but in this moment looked incredibly beautiful with dark clouds creating shadowed silhouettes across it. He takes a sip of his coffee, letting his eyes scan across the courtyard. And then he sees it. He wasn't the only person awake; someone else is sharing this moment with him and his whole body freezes when he realizes who that someone is.

He's sitting on top of a picnic table, facing exactly where Kurt's balcony is. His head is bent, his face practically inside of the book he is holding. Kurt can't read the title from where he's sitting but judging by the man's interest in it, it must be somewhat good. He's wearing glasses, he notices, and bites his lip because he never realized he had a thing for glasses up until that point. He sits out on the balcony and watches the man with as much intensity as the man was reading his book. He wanted to look away, to turn around and go inside, he felt creepy watching someone who didn't even know he was there, but it was like he was glued to the chair. He felt physically incapable of moving. He remembers the mug of coffee in his hand and takes a sip, only to realize it's now cold. He wonders how long he's been sitting there. A door slams from somewhere around the courtyard causing both of them to jump. The man looks up and sees Kurt, and boy does his face light up. Kurt feels himself smile and it's not a guilty smile as though he feels like he got caught, but rather a relieved smile, like his whole body was waiting for the man to acknowledge him before he could relax again. The man stands up, setting his book down.

"Hello," he says. It comes up as barely a whisper but somehow fills the entire yard, climbing up to Kurt's balcony and tickling at his ear.

"Hi," he says back, looking around for the source of the banging door but finds nobody. They're still completely alone. "I wa-" the door slides open behind him and Sebastian strides out.

"Morning early bird," he yawns, stretching his arms high above his head. "We're going to go down to the eating hall and get some breakfast, you coming?"

"Yeah, I'll just- give me a minute." Sebastian nods and heads back inside.

Kurt turns around, not quite remembering what he was planning on saying next but it doesn't matter for the table that the man was sitting at is now empty.


	3. Chapter 3

"Yo Puck, I'm just saying, Iron Man would beat Superman any day. It's so obvious bro," Rex says with a mouth full of Captain Crunch and points his spoon at the man sitting across from him. Puck is one of the two volleyball players rooming with the boys, and judging by his and Rex's current conversation, Kurt could tell they were practically made to be friends.

"Dude." Puck is staring at Rex, his mouth hanging open. He takes a large bite of the banana he was holding and continues talking. "How? Think about it, Superman can do everything. Name it and he can do it. "

"Yeah but Iron Man is _rich_." He says this as though it's the deciding factor of their entire argument. He leans back in his chair and crosses his arms, smiling smugly at Puck, who furrows his eyebrows.

"Your logic is slightly flawed, Rex," Kurt chimes in as he pours milk into his bowl of cheerios. Rex turns and looks at Kurt, his smile fading. Puck laughs, high fiving him.

"Thanks Kurt!" Rex begins to pout and whine about him taking sides, but he isn't fully listening. His eyes scan over the dining hall in pursuit of one person in particular. The large room was becoming increasingly busier as the minutes pass. Kurt watches the entrance as he eats his breakfast, the guy was going to have to come and eat eventually. Time passes and almost everyone at his table is done with their food.

"Kurt, hurry up, we were supposed to be down to the pool in, like, ten minutes ago," Sebastian says as he pulls out his phone and looks at the time. Kurt lowers his gaze from the door and realizes his bowl is still filled with now soggy cereal. "Is everything okay?" Sebastian asks.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just tired, didn't get much sleep last night." He yawns as if to prove it.

"The sooner we get to practice the sooner you can get back here to take a nap," Sebastian responds, stacking garbage onto his tray and heading toward the trash bin. Kurt shovels cereal into his mouth as quickly as he can before standing to follow Sebastian out the door.

* * *

Relaxation settles over Kurt for what feels like the first time in days. He buries his face deeper into the cool pillow beneath him and stretches out further onto his bed. He turns over and opens his eyes, looking at the ceiling. Practice went well, considering his distracted state of mind. He only missed his back four and a half twice out of the countless times he practiced it. His form was flawless, things were looking good. He just hopes things continue to look good as opening ceremonies loom closer. He takes a deep breath, willing his mind to think of other things besides diving. The heaviness of sleep falls upon him eventually and he turns over once more before shutting his eyes and drifting off.

"Blaine." Kurt burrows deeper under his covers; he feels the pressure of someone's body sitting on his bed and hears a familiar voice whispering in his ear. "Blaine, his name is Blaine." He keeps his eyes shut as the voice continues to talk. Who is Blaine? His name isn't Blaine so he doesn't bother to answer, hoping the person will go away and leave him to sleep longer. "Kurt, wake up." He sighs, okay _that _is his name. He opens his eyes to be met with a pair of wide blue ones and a goofy grin.

"Rex," Kurt groans, he's clearly still groggy. "If this whole interrupting my nap time is going to be a daily thing, I'm going to request a new dorm." Rex laughs and sits at the foot of Kurt's bed.

"I just thought you'd like to know that after you and Sebastian left for practice a certain young man sat and ate breakfast with us." Kurt's eyes widen, he shoots up and stares at Rex.

"What?"

"Yeah! I don't know why he wasn't eating with his team but he's a nice guy…asked about you." Kurt's mind is reeling at a thousand miles per second. He closes his eyes and pictures the man's face as he recalls the name Rex had been whispering in his ear just moments ago.

"Blaine," he murmurs, his eyes still closed. A smile spreads across his face, so wide his cheeks could split. "Blaine." He says it again, and begins to giggle. "Blaine. Blaine? Blaine!"

"Blaine," Rex affirms, a scared yet amused look sets on his face as he watches Kurt in his currently flustered state.

"Oh my god?" Kurt looked at Rex, panic rising in his eyes. "He asked about me? What did he ask? What did you tell him? Rex I swear to God, what did you say about me?" Rex raises his hands in defense.

"Bro. He just wanted to know where you went when you and Sebastian got up. I told him you had practice."

"Did he ask for my name or anything?" Kurt asks, leaning forward until he practically falls into Rex's lap.

"He already knew who you were," he replies, chuckling. Kurt's eyes widen, he sits backs to mull over the information being offered to him.

"He's a diver too," Rex comments off-handedly. Kurt's eyebrows shoot up to his hairline.

"If he's a diver why have we never heard of him before?"

"Beats me," Rex shrugs. "But that's all the information I got for you so if you excuse me, I passed a group of Brazilian volleyball girls on the way up here and I need to go catch up with them." He winks and hops off Kurt's bed, shutting the door behind him.

Kurt spends the next few hours in the gym before he heads to the dining hall for dinner. He eats quickly and runs to the pool to get in a few practice dives. He walks aimlessly around the village for the rest of the day trying, without much luck, to run into Blaine somewhere. He doesn't know what he is supposed to do once he finds Blaine but he just wants to see him, to say something to him, anything. He eventually gives up after a while and goes back to his apartment.

* * *

The next morning Kurt wakes early again, this time at 4:30. He slips out of bed as quietly as possible so he doesn't wake anyone up and heads out the door, completely bypassing his usual morning coffee. The cool morning air hits his face as he steps outside. He stops and listens to the sounds of the village, which isn't much. He could hear faintly the sound of a garbage truck somewhere far off in the distance, and a few birds chirp. But aside from those few miniscule noises, there was nothing. He makes his way toward the back of their building hoping to find Blaine in the courtyard like yesterday. He turns the corner and his shoulders visibly slump when he's greeted with a large empty yard. He walks forward and sits down at the table Blaine sat at the day before. The sky is the same brown-gray color as before, only this time there is shards of pink racing up along with the rising sun. He picks at his thumb nail, regretting then that he didn't grab something to busy himself with when he slid out the door. He sat back and closed his eyes, taking a deep breath. He wasn't sure if he should stay and wait for Blaine to show up, or even if he was going to show up. He didn't have to wait long for his answer though because a few moments later he hears footsteps along the concrete pathway leading into the courtyard. His head shoots up and he looks toward the direction of the noise and sees Blaine heading toward him, wearing running shorts and a long sleeved t-shirt that read "Italy" across the front.

"You have good hearing," Blaine laughs softly as he approaches Kurt, "I thought you were sleeping." He's now standing right in front of Kurt with his hands on his hips, attempting to slow his breathing. Kurt's feeling beyond flustered because, oh my god that _accent _and now he had a pair of lean, muscular thighs directly in front of his face.

"You were out for a run?" He asks and he reaches up to pull himself onto the top part of the table, making it so he was more eye-level with Blaine's face. "I'm Blaine," he adds then freezes. "I'm KURT! God, I'm Kurt. You're Blaine." He feels like he should get up and run before he makes himself look like any bigger of a fool. Blaine is giving him a curious look, though he's smiling widely.

"I am Blaine, yes." He lets out a soft laugh. "And I alternate my mornings between running and studies," Blaine answers as he sits next to Kurt on the table. "I'm sorry, I should have asked. Do you mind if I sit with you?" Kurt is mesmerized by his politeness.

"No!" He says with a tad too much eagerness, motioning for him to stay seated. He has to stop himself from saying _I was actually waiting for you to show up. _Blaine seems to be waiting for him to say something so he says the first thing that comes to mind. "Are you in school, then?"

"I'm going into year five in secondary school when I get back," he responds. Kurt nods then realizes they're probably the same age. He glances over at Blaine, trying to figure out why he had pegged him to be so much older than what he really is. The more he watches him fiddle with the sleeve of his shirt or tap his jittery leg against the table, the more Kurt sees the teenager in him.

"I am too!" He smiles. "Well, it's called high school in the US, but I'm going to be a senior this year. My last year."

Blaine turns and grins nervously back at Kurt. He hesitates before saying, "I've seen you dive before. I watched videos."

"Oh!" Kurt's stomach flips at the thought of Blaine watching him and knowing who he was long before Kurt even knew Blaine existed.

"You're very good."

Kurt blushes but doesn't say anything. He runs a hand through his hair. "I feel really bad now, for not knowing who you were before we met." Blaine pushes his words away with a wave of his hands and rolls his eyes.

"Please, you're the biggest diving star around, everyone knows who you are. I wasn't expecting you to know me though." Kurt looks down and shakes his head slightly. "What?" Blaine asks, titling his head to try and see Kurt's face.

"Nothing," he responds. "It's just so new to me, this whole people actually caring who I am and stuff."

"What?" Blaine questions, genuinely confused. Kurt takes a deep breath.

"Nobody at my school cares that I dive or that I'm actually good at diving. Which normally I would be happy about, but instead of celebrating my good abilities, it's like they go out of their way to attack me for my biggest flaws." Blaine furrows his eyebrows as he continues listening. "And it feels so good to have people acknowledge me for what I love most. It just catches me off guard sometimes." He finishes talking and silence takes over. After a moment, Blaine places his hand over Kurt's knee. Kurt feels the warmth burn through the fabric of his sweat pants and touch his skin.

"I think you are wonderful." He says this so bluntly and stares at Kurt with so much intensity that Kurt has to grasp onto the sides of the table because he's feeling dizzy. "Kurt?" He asks, regaining his attention.

"Yeah?" Kurt breathes out.

"Would you like to go out for dinner tonight? Out of the village?" Kurt bites his lip to hold back from smiling too much.

"I am getting sick of cafeteria food…" Blaine lets out a puff of air he didn't realize he was holding in.

"Good, me too." They look away from each other's eyes long enough to exchange numbers. Blaine gets up first and turns to wave goodbye. Just when Kurt thought it wasn't going to get any better he steps forward again and does quite possibly the most romantic thing ever, picking Kurt's hand up and gently placing a kiss atop his knuckles.

As soon as Blaine turns the corner Kurt lays all the way back against the table and begins kicking his feet in the air. A choked off laugh sounds from nearby, he sits up slowly and narrows his eyes, turning towards where his balcony is.

"Those Italians are romantic as _fuck!_" Rex calls, leaning over the railing. Adrian and Sebastian whistle while Puck gives Kurt a thumbs up, nodding his head approvingly. Kurt just laughs up at his friends, unable to find any annoyance in his current state of bliss.

* * *

The next few days are incredibly busy with practice and interviews but somehow Kurt and Blaine find the time to get away from it all to just be with each other. Before they realize it, the entire week has flown by and it's the night of opening ceremonies. Everyone's families flew in the morning before and they all had dinner together to meet one another. Burt approved whole heartedly of Blaine, saying on more than once occasion that he was a perfect example of how all young men should act, and Blaine's parents already knew a lot about Kurt.

"Oh, the way he talks of you! I'm surprised my son doesn't have a poster of you hanging on his wall!" She joked to Kurt when they first met, completely oblivious to the intense blush Blaine was sporting.

It's only hours before the start of the ceremonies and Kurt and Blaine are lounging lazily on Kurt's sofa eating the birthday cake Sebastian and Blaine had attempted to make earlier and watching Rex and Adrian verse each other in a game of Mario Cart.

"Hey, just letting you know," Adrian starts, glancing back to look at Blaine. "Just because you're smitten with our Kurt doesn't mean me and Rex are going to go easy on your team mates at syncro tomorrow." Kurt rolls his eyes and Blaine laughs.

"I don't think they have to worry about you guys making it any easier for them," he remarks jokingly. The boys on the ground let out a howl.

"Getting feisty there, Anderson!" Rex yells, reaching back and patting Blaine's shin awkwardly. Shortly after Blaine stands to leave and get ready for the ceremonies. He crouches beside the couch and kisses Kurt.

"See you later, birthday boy," He murmurs, rubbing his thumb over Kurt's jaw line.

"Ciao," Kurt responds. He grins; proud of himself for using one of the few Italian words he has learned from Blaine over the past few days. Blaine giggles and calls his goodbyes to everyone else as he shuts the door.

"Who would've thought it? The boy wonder Kurt Hummel falling for the sweet Italian heart throb Blaine Anderson…" Rex teases. Kurt smirks and throws a pillow at his head.

* * *

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU, HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU." Kurt and his friends are walking toward the entertainment hall (Club, as Rex insists on calling it) after being shuttled back to the village and Rachel decides, much to Kurt's embarrassment, that it was a good time to break out in song. The other's join in and by the end of the song people Kurt doesn't even know are singing along. Athletes sitting along the curbs or running past them cheer and yell out their wishes to him. Blaine giggles and pulls Kurt into his arms, kissing him soundly on the cheek.

"Buon compleanno," He murmurs, nuzzling Kurt's neck. Kurt smiles and turns his head to place a kiss on Blaine's lips.

"Grazie," he responds in the best Italian accent he can pull off which makes Blaine laugh loudly. Kurt pouts. "Don't laugh at me!" He cries. Blaine giggles, trying to subdue his laughter.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry." He trails kisses across Kurt's nose and chin as an apology.

"Can we keep walking?" Rex asks in a bored voice. Kurt and Blaine look up to see a large group of people standing in front of them. Kurt's face flushes a deep red as they continue on their way to the club.

Once they get there, the place is jam packed with giddy Olympians celebrating the beginning of the games. People pour into and out of the doors left and right, couples are hooking up in the middle of the streets, not caring who saw them. Kurt looks around him in awe at his surroundings. It's as if a fire has been ignited within the village along with the Olympic torch and there is no way to put it out.

They dance for a while, just enjoying the music and each other's company and Kurt's having entirely too much fun. So much fun that he almost doesn't notice Sebastian slip away from their group and head toward the stage in the front of the dance floor. The current song comes to an end and Sebastian grabs the microphone, he leans down and whispers something in the DJ's ear.

"Hey, alright everyone listen up! This one goes out to my man Kurt on his birthday, and his boyfriend Blaine," Sebastian yells into the microphone. Kurt blushes as people "aww" and cheer. He cringes, anticipating what song was about to play and then the music starts and laughter erupts from everyone in the room.

_I threw a wish in a well  
don't ask me, I'll never tell  
I looked to you as it fell  
and now you're in my way_

Everyone on the dance floor seems to know the tune and once the chorus begins the shouts of people singing along could probably be heard from outside the village, Kurt himself had to giggle at the song choice, shaking his head and giving Sebastian a playful glare as he made his way back toward their group of friends.

_Hey, I just met you  
and this is crazy  
but here's my number  
so call me, maybe?_

The song eventually comes to an end and morphs into a new beat Kurt doesn't recognize. It's deep and fast paced, the kind you feel from the pit of your stomach all the way to your fingertips. Kurt's eyes connect with Blaine's as they move closer to each other and pull themselves away from the rest of the group. The bass of the song seems to get deeper as it plays. Kurt stares into Blaine's dark eyes and completely forgets himself, and his surroundings. He's falling into the rhythm of the music and Blaine's hungry stare. Blaine moves even closer to Kurt, closing the already non-existent space between them. Kurt winds his hands into Blaine's hair and tugs, their bodies moving together in unison to the beat. Blaine's rubbing against Kurt's thigh and breathing into his neck in short, hot breaths. Kurt lets his eyes flutter shut as his hips sway, grinding against Blaine's body. The increasing friction between them causes Kurt's pants to feel slightly tighter than usual, his breath hitches as he feels Blaine's fingers slide up underneath his shirt and latch onto his waist. The slight, warm pressure of Blaine's hands on his skin, combined with the heavy bass of the music vibrating his entire frame causes a jolt of pleasure to run through his body, ending somewhere near his groin. His head falls forward and he rests his forehead against Blaine's. His fingers tighten around the back of Blaine's neck simultaneously with Blaine's grip on his waist. He leans in and pulls at Blaine's bottom lip with his teeth, bringing his face closer to him. They're lips meet and fall together slowly at first before Blaine releases his grip on Kurt's waist and moves his hands to either side of Kurt's face. He crushes their mouths further together causing Kurt to make a noise somewhere between a gasp and a groan. Kurt pulls away entirely too quickly, letting his breathing slow. As he falls from his high the song changes yet again, he glances around the room quickly, remember where he is. He takes a deep breath and looks back at Blaine. Blaine smiles at Kurt, a gleam in his eye as he leans in and plants a soft kiss on the bottom of Kurt's ear.

"Let's go," he whispers. Kurt feels his heart stutter in his chest and he barely has time to nod his head before Blaine is grabbing his hand and whisking him out the door. They race down the street, never letting go of one another, giggling and pausing every so often to lean against a building or light post and kiss each other.

Without really paying attention Kurt leads them back to his apartment. He unlocks the door and groans as he feels Blaine's body pressed fully against his back. He opens the door and they stumble in, he turns and lunges at Blaine pushing him up against the wall and attacks his mouth eagerly. Blaine reaches behind Kurt and grips his ass, pulling his body closer to him. Kurt leans back and grabs hold of Blaine's hand pulling him towards his bedroom. They fall onto his bed in a tangled pile and Blaine regains his balance before crawling on top of Kurt. He hovers over him as Kurt reaches up to unbutton Blaine's shirt. He pulls his body up off the bed to kiss Blaine's skin as more of it is exposed. Blaine throws his head back and groans as Kurt licks a line down the center of his chest. Blaine drops his arms and falls on top of Kurt, he slides down until his face is in line with Kurt's hip. Moving Kurt's shirt out of the way with his nose, he bites down on his hip lightly then kisses the mark his teeth left. Kurt thrusts his hips upward, practically whining for more. Smiling widely, Blaine pulls Kurt's shirt off all the way and throws it across the room. He sits back on his legs and begins rubbing Kurt's, which are positioned on either side of him. He uses the blunt tip of his nails and scrapes his way down Kurt's thighs, sneaking underneath the hem of his shorts. Kurt bites his lip, grunting as Blaine got increasing closer to his hardening cock.

"Sei perfetto," Blaine murmurs under his breath, running his fingers down Kurt's thighs again. Kurt doesn't know what he said, but his mind was too busy with other thoughts to think too much of it. Blaine stretches himself across the entire length of Kurt's body. So much exposed skin touching at the same time made Kurt feel like he was going to explode. "You," Blaine catches Kurt's lips with his own and kisses him roughly until they're both dizzy, "Are perfect." Kurt laughs softly and pulls his head up off the pillow, reaching for another kiss. Blaine goes to give him just that when the door handle turns.

Kurt and Blaine both shoot to opposite sides of the bed just in time when Sebastian walks in the door. He jumps back when he notices he isn't the only one in the room.

"Oh, I-" He points to his bed, which currently has Kurt's shirt thrown on it. "…thought you weren't here. I wasn't thinking. Fuck." He grabs a pillow and blanket off his bed and holds it up to them. "I'm just, I'm going to go sleep on the couch, it's cool. Look guys, I-"

"Sebastian." Kurt says through clenched teeth. "Go." Blaine sits on the corner of the bed, clearly embarrassed, but he still offers Sebastian a polite smile when he looks his way.

"I'm going, I'm sorry. I'm going." He rushes out the door, shutting it tightly behind him. They sit on the bed looking at each other for a few moments, on the other side of the wall they hear snickering as Rex and Adrian find out what just happened. Kurt tries to block it out and scoots across the bed to pull Blaine back down. He's eager to kiss him, but neither of them seems very into it anymore. Blaine pulls away and looks at Kurt.

Kurt sighs, "They can probably hear us," he mutters, blushing slightly. Blaine nods, falling onto his side next to Kurt. He understands. Kurt turns over and props an elbow up to look at Blaine. He pulls their hands together, playing with their intertwined fingers. "I didn't lock the door, 's my fault. I kind of ruined it, didn't I?" Blaine caught Kurt's hand as he let go and brought them to his lips.

"Nothing is ruined," He says into Kurt's finger tips. "Not when I'm with you." Kurt thought he was going to melt into the sheets right there. He leans over and kisses Blaine once more before turning around and shutting the light off. Blaine pulls Kurt into his chest, wrapping his arms around Kurt's waist. Kurt smiles and slips a leg in-between Blaine's.

"Goodnight, Blaine." Kurt whispers into the darkness. Blaine presses his lips against the back of Kurt's neck in response and they both drift to sleep.


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Sorry, it has been a while since I've last updated this! I'm crazy busy lately with school stuff but here it is- the next part. Hopefully its contents will make up for the delay. (Hint- this chapter is the reason for the fic's nc-17 rating). Enjoy!**

Kurt wakes up to something tickling his side. He keeps his eyes closed for a moment, letting the warmth from the sunlight streaming in through the window cover his face. He finally opens his eyes and sees Blaine laying half on his body, half on the bed with his arm draped around his waist. He's planting kisses in the same area of Kurt's lower stomach and it sends a pleasant shiver down his spine. Blaine notices Kurt stir and turns his head to look at him, resting his cheek against his hip. Blaine rubbed his face against Kurt's soft skin and began humming happily.

"Good morning," Kurt sighs, reaching down and tracing a finger across Blaine's bottom lip. Blaine brings his hand up to capture Kurt's and holds it against his cheek. It's a calm moment, incredibly and entirely content and Kurt doesn't ever want to do anything else ever again except lay there with Blaine, but suddenly Blaine turns his face into the palm of Kurt's hand and licks from wrist to fingertips, the rough surface of his tongue scratching across Kurt's skin. Blaine locks his dark eyes onto Kurt's as he takes one of his fingers in his mouth and bites the tip gently. Kurt's mouth falls open and his eye lids slip shut. "Blaine," he murmurs under his breath as Blaine crawls up to Kurt's face, leaving a trail of kisses across his bare chest. He stops once his lips reach Kurt's and smiles, their lips barely touching.

"Good morning," he replies, a smirk growing on his face, and ducks down to place his lips on the corner of Kurt's jaw. He pulls at the skin with his teeth, moving back down Kurt's body slowly, stopping right below his belly button. "You have such beautiful skin," he breathes out without lifting his mouth from Kurt's body. "So beautiful..." His voice is barely a whisper, just the softest tickle of breath against Kurt's abdomen. He reaches his hands up and runs his fingers over Kurt's chest as he lets his mouth travel further downward. Kurt feels as though his heart is going to beat right out of his chest, he pushes his head back further into the pillow beneath him. Blaine reaches the hem of Kurt's boxer-briefs and pulls teasingly at the elastic; he glances up to look at Kurt's face, which is completely flushed. Kurt whines as he looks through hooded eye-lids down at Blaine. Blaine's eyes, usually a light and dark mixture of browns that don't even have a name, are completely darkened with lust and yet shine a thousand times through with curiosity and excitement. He continues his way down and parts his lips around Kurt's quickly growing erection. Kurt lets out a shallow gasp and involuntarily lifts his hips off the bed, pushing up into Blaine's face. Blaine hums, smiling to himself and using his tongue to work his way over the length of Kurt's cock, once he reaches the head he flattens his tongue out, moaning at the taste of Kurt through the material of the briefs.

"Blaine," Kurt pants as quietly as he can. Blaine looks up to see him biting his wrist; it takes him a minute to realize that Kurt is trying to refrain from being too loud. He lifts his head up and Kurt immediately pushes his hips up further, trying to make up the distance that Blaine just created.

"You don't have to be so quiet…" He murmurs, rubbing his fingertips along the muscles on Kurt's abdomen. "I kicked everyone out hours ago." Kurt's eyes spark at the thick way his accent rolls around the words he mutters. His voice swirls through the air and around Kurt's head as he realizes they are completely alone, without anyone to bother them. Blaine leans into Kurt's ear and whispers in a low voice, "I wanted you. Alone." His voice is shaky with nerves, but everything seems so right, so sure, that the desire outweighs the nervousness. Kurt feels like his brain is now mush, his hands are clenched beneath the covers and he wants so badly to just reach down to rip his briefs off and eliminate the thin layer blocking direct contact from Blaine's touch to his now throbbing cock. As if reading his mind, Blaine slips his fingers underneath the elastic band around his waist. He stops short of pulling them all the way off and just lets his fingers slip back and forth across Kurt's skin. His touch is feather-light and it's making Kurt shudder in a mixture of pleasure and anticipation. He lets out another choked off whimper as Blaine's fingertips barley graze the side of his cock. Blaine grabs it fully with his hand and begins stroking the skin, tracing over the prominent veins with his thumb. Kurt makes desperate grunts that's he's sure doesn't sound attractive at all, but Blaine seems to be enjoying, and shoves his hands between them to push his underwear off. The cool air hitting his newly exposed skin mixed with the heat of Blaine's hand causes an intense shiver to run across his body, reaching all the way to his toes. He looks down through his lashes to see Blaine's long fingers of one hand wrapped around his dick and the other grasping tightly at his hip. The intensity in which Blaine is looking at Kurt with creates a tingling warmth in the pit of Kurt's stomach, his hips stutter and push up into Blaine's hand as he swipes his thumb over the head of his cock. He leans down and catches Kurt's lips with his own, pulling him into a deep kiss, not breaking the rhythm of his hand. Kurt digs his fingers into Blaine's thick curls and tugs gently, causing a low noise somewhere between a gurgled gasp and a moan to emit deep in his throat. Kurt pulls away from the kiss and nudges Blaine's head to the side; he bites gently on the corner of Blaine's jaw, just beneath his ear. He tugs Blaine's hair further back to expose more of the skin on Blaine's neck and licks a long line from the center of his throat to where his teeth left a bite mark. He smacks a sloppy kiss on the spot and brings Blaine's lips back to his own. Blaine is gasping now; his hand leaves Kurt's cock to catch himself from falling completely on top of Kurt as his legs begin to tremble. He's panting, hovering above Kurt with his arms on either side of Kurt's head, hands fisted into the sheets. They stare at each other for a moment, leaning in every few seconds to barely touch parted lips, sharing hot puffs of breath as their breathing slows. Blaine lowers his thigh in-between Kurt's to give his legs a rest. Blaine's skin brushes against Kurt's cock and he jolts upward, Blaine takes notice to this and does it again, grinding his own dick against Kurt's thigh as Kurt thrusts against his.

"Blaine!" He withers beneath him, his cries growing increasingly persistent. "Blaine, please." Blaine lifts his head up and pauses his movements. They say nothing, speaking lengths of words with just their eye contact and before Kurt can even finish nodding his head, Blaine's out of the bed and across the room, picking up a bottle of lube from the dresser. He hesitates for a second before latching his fingers into the elastic band of his underwear and sliding them down to his knees, he catches a glimpse of Kurt in the mirror and notices him watching his ass intently. He smirks and rolls his body, purposefully arching his back and shimmies to get his underwear the rest of the way off. The moan of reaction he gets from Kurt is satisfying enough and he turns to make his way back to the bed.

"You came prepared," Kurt comments, watching as Blaine climbs back onto the bed and crawls atop Kurt, straddling his hips. Blaine smiles at him as he flips the lid open, pouring some out and warming it in his hands before he reaches behind himself and grabs hold of Kurt's dick, slicking his hands up and down it, turning his wrist slightly to palm over the head a few times. Kurt twitches underneath him.

"Actually, your roommates are. Rex threw this at me as I was pushing them out the door earlier. He winked when I caught it," He says and Kurt can't tell if the flush on his cheeks is from embarrassment or the fact that Kurt's cock is currently sliding over his ass. He rolls his hips forward and back trying to increase the friction as much as possible. Blaine furrows his eyebrows, biting at his bottom lip as he situates himself above Kurt.

"He's so blunt about _shit-" _Kurt gasps as Blaine leans forwards suddenly to run his hands across Kurt's chest. He pauses once the blunt tip of his nails trail over Kurt's nipples and pulls them carefully. Kurt yells out and grabs onto Blaine's feet, which are planted on either side of Kurt's waist. Blaine steadies himself again so Kurt's action doesn't cause him to fall over and he grasps onto Kurt's bent knees behind him. "He's dumb and I'm sorry," Kurt grunts as he tries to remember what he was just talking about, he's using all his will to not thrust his hips up. He lets Blaine take his time as he moves and slides his hips, bumping the tip of Kurt's cock every so often, sending jolts of almost-unbearable pleasure through Kurt's body.

"I don't know, I'm quite thankful for him in the moment," Blaine murmurs, staring down at Kurt's face.

"Do me a favor?" Kurt asks, looking back.

"Anything," Blaine answers earnestly, his accent softening his words.

"Don't ever say you're thankful for my weird friend while you're sitting on top of me naked, ever again." He leans his head back against the pillows and they both fall into a fit of giggles. Their laughter quickly turns to gasping as Blaine suddenly decides to slide himself down onto Kurt's dick. His mouth falls open as he moves incredibly slowly at first, moving back up and down again a few times. Kurt feels like he's going to black out from sensitivity overload; Blaine's eyes are shut now and he's whining and gasping as he works himself around Kurt's cock. Kurt groans low in his chest as Blaine continues at his cautious pace, he pushes himself further into the comforter beneath him. Blaine begins petting at Kurt's knees, then lets his hands travel further down and pluck at his sides. He circles his hips as he comes back down onto Kurt's dick again and gasps incredibly loud this time, a smile spreading across his open lips, and Kurt knows he found the right angle, the right spot. Blaine opens his eyes and Kurt takes that as his answer.

"Okay?" He asks, just double checking. Blaine nods, circling his hips again as if to prove it further and the motion causes Blaine to tighten around Kurt's cock. "Blaine!" He yells, reaching to grab hold of his hips. He can't take it anymore and slams up into Blaine at the same time that he comes back down. They quickly find a pattern in their jumbled, fast motions. Kurt is thankful Blaine had gotten up early to get their friends out of the apartment because neither of them are particularly quiet, both alternate between gasping and moaning endless strings of each other's names to just grunting and murmuring nonsense. Their skin hits together in crude sounding slaps that only causes the knot of heat in Kurt's stomach to blaze hotter, he's mindful of how tightly he holds onto Blaine's waist for he doesn't want Blaine to have to explain any bruises that his speedo won't cover up but at times he can't do much other than grasp desperately at Blaine's sides as Blaine rides down faster on him. He reaches in between them to wrap his hand around Blaine's cock and begins stroking him, trying to match the rhythm of his hip's thrusts. He twists his hands up and down and marvels at the size of it, he turns his thumb over the bright red top, slipping over the slit. Blaine comes down once more and then completely loses it. He gasps just slightly and makes a quiet choking noise as his body tenses up and his cock twitches and then he's coming. The look on his face, and the tightening of his muscles around Kurt's cock is enough to send Kurt over the edge as well. He thrusts upward again and the room flashes white for a few seconds before everything starts to come back into a blurred focus. Blaine slumps over onto Kurt's chest, breathing heavily. Kurt can feel Blaine smiling into his skin. He pulls himself out of Blaine slowly, his cock still overly sensitive and maneuvers himself so that Blaine is lying next to rather than on top of him. Kurt eventually realizes that his eyes are closed and opens them to see Blaine staring up at his face.

"Hi," He says.

"Hi," Blaine answers. They spend way too much time reveling in each other's company in bed, lazily kissing and whispering important nothings in the other's ear. After a while, Blaine is finally the one to make the comment of feeling like they should probably shower. And so they do, and they spend way too much time reveling in each other's company in the shower. Kurt washes Blaine's hair, and vice versa, Blaine singing a beautiful tune in Italian while he massages Kurt's scalp, and Kurt's not sure of what the words mean but he's almost positive that Blaine is changing a few of the lyrics because every once in a while he hears his own name slipped in. After washing each other twice over the water begins to get cold, and they reluctantly shut the faucet off and find towels to wrap around themselves before padding back into Kurt's room.

* * *

He stands on the platform, closing his eyes and takes a deep breath. This is his last dive of the afternoon, the last night of his competition. He made it through the semi-finals the morning before just barely, with the lowest score of the group moving on. He squeaked in at last place, but it was good enough because it meant he got to compete in the finals.

And so here he is, currently in fourth place, preparing to do his forward four and a half somersault twist. The two divers before him completely flopped, by how much Kurt isn't sure. He's been spending the majority of the night focusing on himself and looking back constantly in the athlete's section of the stands, right behind where the coaches are sitting. Blaine is sitting with his teammates, and obviously cheering on their diver, but every time he catches Kurt watching him, the tiniest of smirks form on both of their lips. Now, Kurt is lifting his face toward the ceiling, flexing his toes over the surface of the platform beneath him, trying to block out everything from his own thoughts to the constant noise of the audience watching below. He takes one last breath and jumps. The wind hits his face and he's moving downward and he gets that feeling again, the feeling of complete control of himself, of time, and of the water straight below him. He flips and flips and flips again, somersault after somersault. He doesn't hear anything but the consistent rush of air beating against his ears as he nears further to blue surface of the water. He gets in the last somersault and twists it off before straightening out and entering the water. And he knows, he knows before he even resurfaces that he's done it. The grin he's wearing is splitting his face as he pulls himself up and out of the water. His coach pulls him in a tight hug, patting his back with large, loud slaps. He tries his face with his towel and stares up at the score board, his stomach doing flip flops as he waits for his scoring to be posted. It takes barely a minute for the numbers to flash across the screen, and a minute more for Kurt to realize what the numbers mean. A line of nine point five's with a few ten's mixed in shine brightly next to his name, and that's it. He finishes in first. His knees begin to tremble as the realization of the moment falls upon him. He covers his flushed face in his hands as his teammates surround him, enveloping him in a crushing group hug. The thunderous cheers of the crowd makes its way to his ears once his friends release him and he looks up at the audience. His heart is pounding against his rib cage and he can barely even think, and before he can make sense of the situation, a warm mass is colliding with his chilled body. He automatically relaxes, recognizing Blaine's embrace and turns to look at his face, going slightly cross eyed as a result. And then Blaine's kissing him, hard. It's full of passion and longingly and just pure happiness and for just a second Kurt slips into the kiss a little too deeply. Blaine grips the sides of Kurt's face to pull him in closer and squeezes his eyes shut, their noses smash together in an attempt to close the non-existent space between their faces and Kurt can feel Blaine's lips form a smile against his. He remembers where he is just moments later and pulls away quickly, looking around him. People are watching, of course people are watching. Some are smiling, and others are giving them quizzical stares and in the current moment, Kurt's flustered brain can't differentiate between judging glares and happy glances. He gives Blaine the briefest of smiles and pulls completely away, looking down and rubbing his neck. Blaine smiles nervously, but otherwise doesn't comment. Kurt goes to say something but he's already being whisked away by his coach.

That night, Kurt, Blaine and the rest of the group go out for dinner in the city to celebrate. They listen intently as Blaine retells, with copious amounts of enthusiasm, just how perfect Kurt's last dive was; even though they were all there to see it as well. Kurt blushes graciously at all the praise he receives, and holds Blaine's hand under the table, rubbing his thumb gently over Blaine's wrist. It was a beautiful night, full of laughter and chatting, and for some reason nobody mentions the kiss that Kurt and Blaine shared after Kurt won, or the awkwardness that came afterwards.

Kurt finally crawls into bed well past midnight and makes the mistake of pulling out his iPhone and checking his twitter. He scrolls through countless tweets sent to him with tags varying from something about an OTP to #gaydivers. He rolls his eyes, gay divers is _so _not trending worldwide. Really? He begins to question the sanity of people around the world as the tweets he reads become both more enthusiastic and hurtful as they go on. Tweets regarding Blaine and his kiss mix together congratulatory tweets for his gold. He slides his thumb upwards, lazily reading few tweets here and there, willing himself to turn his phone off and go to sleep but at the same moment becoming unable to tear his eyes away from the words residing on the lit-up screen.

_Gold for Kurt_Hummel in 10 m Platform! GO KURT! GO USA!_

_So does this mean Kurt_Hummel isn't interested in the ladies…/: _

_Don't know what to be more excited about Kurt_Hummel getting tonight, that kiss or that gold! _

_I was happy for that Kurt Hummel kid until he had to go and kiss a dude. #seriously_

_Wow, Kurt_Hummel bringing home gold from his first Olympics! How Cool! _

_Who was that cutie congratulating Kurt_Hummel earlier?! #newotp #imeanreally_

_Kurt Hummel has some mad talent. Mad talent, I tell ya…_

_YOU GUYS Kurt_Hummel 's mega cute mystery man is AndersonBlaine! #breakingnews_

Kurt giggles at this one for some reason; he's kind of surprised at this girl's spying ability. Unless, of course, the television commentators had already supplied such information. He absent mindedly clicks the link to her twitter profile and raises his eyebrows at what he finds. Her icon is a picture of himself, and the majority of her tweets are what looks like the result of live-tweeting a billion different Olympic events while on an intense sugar rush. A new tweet pops up at the top and Kurt clicks to read it.

_Aw shit guys, they've been following each other on twitter for two weeks now… #getit_

Kurt stares at the screen, wondering how she could have possibly figured that out, but shrugs it off and returns to his twitter handle feed. There's about `a hundred new tweets since he last looked at it and the one on top catches him completely off guard. He can't believe to chances, but he's staring at the name of a girl he goes to school with. He doesn't really know what he was expecting but he continues to read anyway.

_Always knew Kurt_Hummel was a huge flamer. Nasty. Doesn't deserve to medal. _

He lets his phone drop onto his chest, as his throat grows tight. He didn't know if he expected any different, if he expected that their views would change and when he got back to school things would be completely different. He really didn't have a clue, but for some reason, reading that one little tweet crushed something inside him he didn't even know he was harboring. He turns his phone on silence and slides it onto his nightstand table before turning over and pulling his cover above his shoulders. He fights for sleep as an uncomfortable sense of something between fulfillment and anticipated disappointment settles over him.

* * *

The next few days are set to be filled with photo shoots and interviews with a variety of networks, magazines, and newspapers. His first stop is with NBC, and he learns over breakfast that it's Ryan Seacrest who is going to be interviewing him.

"He's kind of annoying," he mumbles as he pushes the stack of waffles around on his plate with a fork. Kurt's manager, who is joining them for breakfast, shrugs her shoulders.

"He's a pretty easy interviewer, just stay away from any topics you don't really want to talk about," she advises before standing up and saying her goodbyes to everyone at the table.

A few hours later, he leaves for his interview. He nervous to say the least, and he's not entirely sure why. This is by no means the first interview he's done, but for some reason he's more anxious than ever before. He arrives at the location and cautiously approaches the set. A few people Kurt doesn't know shake his hand and congratulate him on his medal before he's being pulled away towards hair and make-up where an entirely different group of people Kurt doesn't know shake his hand and congratulate him on his medal. He eventually goes and stands off to the side, watching as Ryan talks at the camera about the Volleyball event that had just taken place.

Kurt waits for the camera to cut off before he climbs up onto the tall stool next to Ryan and smiles at him. They share a few words and Ryan asks to hold Kurt's medal and then the man behind the camera announces that they're ready to film again. Kurt straightens his medal, nervous jitters flying through his stomach.

"And we're back! Joining me now is Olympic Champion, Kurt Hummel. For those of you who don't know, if you've been living under a rock for the past few days, Kurt just won his very first Olympic medal is 10 m platform diving this last Thursday. This is quite a huge accomplishment, the first gold for Team USA in many, many years. So congratulations to you," He says, turning away from the camera to smile at Kurt. Kurt grins back and rubs the back of his neck.

"Thank you! Thanks, yeah it's a- it feels pretty cool."

"As it should, as it should." He crosses his legs and tilts his head; the look in his eyes is beginning to make Kurt nervous. He wasn't actually quite sure the question Ryan was going to be asking him. He had just been told "the basics." He relaxes when Ryan asks him what his usual morning routine consists of.

"Breakfast," He jokes. Ryan laughs a little too loudly, hitting his knee. Kurt giggles slightly, "No, no. While I've been here, in the village, I've been taking a jog every morning because it's so peaceful while everyone's still sleeping so I usually get out early and adventure around the village, then eat some breakfast and hit the pool."

Blaine enters the living room as he hears Kurt's voice coming from the television. Everyone's sitting around it, watching eagerly. He smiles at his face on the screen and seats himself down in front of it.

"Now, this is your first Olympic Games, are you getting used to the whole village set up? Do you enjoy your roommates?"

Kurt nods, "Oh yeah! Of course, I mean my roommate, Sebastian, and I have grown up together, we've been best friends since we were about seven or eight. And the rest of the team is just as cool, we all get along really well."

"Very cool, that's nice. It's always better to be close," Ryan comments, and Kurt isn't sure exactly what he means so he just nods his head. He feels like he's doing that a lot in this interview and begins to worry that people who are going to watch this will notice. He stops nodding. "So, out of everything you've experience so far here in London, what has been your favorite part?"

Kurt holds up his medal and laughs giddily. "This! This is just unbelievable. But really, all the amazing people I've met while being here, the bonds that I've made. There are certain people you meet in your life that you know you're supposed to meet, ya know? And it just feels right when you do. So I'm glad that I've made the relationships I have while being here."

Everyone surrounding the television begin to playfully push and shove Blaine.

"He's talking about you, bro!" Rex teases. Blaine blushes and continues to watch Kurt's gleaming eyes on the screen.

Ryan smiles, "Now I have to ask. Speaking of relationships…." Kurt's heart stops, he completely freezes. No, no he doesn't have to ask. Why does he have to ask? "You and a certain man from Team Italy have created quite a commotion through the internet these past few days, can you give us any confirmation on that?" He's leaning forward, as if hungrily searching for any answer he can get. Kurt can practically feel the color rise on his neck.

"Well, yeah I mean Blaine and I are…we're friends. Just friends." And he wishes he can take it back the minute the words leave his mouth. He contemplates it for a second, actually thinks about cutting off whatever Ryan is saying now and yell "I mean the love of my life, the greatest thing that's happened to me, the most perfect person on this planet." But he bites his tongue; he knows that back home there will be kids from his school watching this interview eventually. He knows that millions and millions of people he doesn't even know will see it and for some reason this makes him freeze. He wishes it doesn't, but it does and he wants to run from his spot on the stool and find Blaine and keep him from ever watching this interview ever.

"Well that was some heck of a kiss for just friends, he must be a big fan of yours," Ryan jokes then changes the topic, and Kurt is kind of surprised because he has always pegged Seacrest to be the kind of interviewer to push things until they get the answer they're looking for. And Kurt even surprises himself by not commenting on the kiss at all, by just dropping the entire subject, not defending Blaine or their relationship.

Blaine stays sitting in front of the television and watches the rest of the interview in complete silence. Nobody in the room says or does anything. Once a set of commercials starts playing Blaine stands up and walks to the door without saying a word.

* * *

"Is Blaine here?" Kurt asks as he walks into the apartment and sets his bag down on the sofa. Rex looks up from the TV, it is set on the same channel that Kurt had just done an interview on. Everyone is staring at Kurt.

"Kurt…" Sebastian sits up, "What were you thinking?"

"What was I? What are you talking about?" Sebastian points behind him at the TV, his eyes don't leave Kurt's face. Kurt looks up at Ryan Seacrest's face; he's currently going on animatedly about some trivial twitter statistics.

"It was live. He saw it," Kurt says. He means it to be a question but he already knows the answer. He pinches the bridge of his nose and shuts his eyes. Of course the interview was live, of course. He wants to punch himself in the face for being so stupid.

"Why did you say that stuff dude?" Rex asks. Kurt sneers at the judgmental tone he's holding.

"You don't get it Rex. Just- Just stay out of it, you don't understand!" He yells, feeling incredibly defensive in the moment. Everyone's eyebrows raise but nobody says a thing. Kurt looks around at his friends and turns quickly, running to his room so they don't see the angry, confused tears forming in his eyes.

He sits on the edge of his bed with his phone out in his hands. He scrolls past Blaine's name a good twenty times, not sure whether he's doing it on purpose or he can't see the name through his tears. He finally steadies his hands and presses call. A ring sounds from somewhere behind him, he jumps up and turns around; Blaine's phone is lying on his bed, half underneath his pillow. He throws his phone down next to it and slides to the floor, his face in his hands. There's a light knock on the door, Kurt doesn't bother to look up.

"Go away, Seb." The door creaks open anyway and Kurt glances up. "I said- oh."

"Hi," Puck answers as he steps into the room and shuts the door behind him. He rocks back on his heels, looking at Kurt as if he's contemplating what exactly to say. He walks across the room and sits on the bed in front of Kurt. "Listen Kurt, I know we don't know each other all that well but I think I know you enough to realize that you didn't mean to say those things." He pauses until Kurt actually lifts his head to look at him. "You're scared, I get it."

Kurt takes a deep breath. "Yeah," he says with a short laugh, "but that doesn't excuse how fucking stupid I am." Puck gives him a small, sympathetic smile.

"No you aren't man. You just made a mistake, a fixable one. And I've seen the way you look at him all the time and the way he looks at you. I know if you go and talk to Blaine right now he'll probably listen." Kurt wipes his eyes and shrugs. .

"Yeah, but I've got no idea where he went to." He holds up Blaine's phone, "He left this here."

"He was pretty upset."

Kurt takes a shuttering breath and leans his head back until he's staring at the ceiling. "Did he say anything before he left?"

"Nah, he just kind of stood up and left…" Puck trails off with a shrug. Kurt nods, and reaches his hand up to brush angrily at the wetness on his cheek. He's embarrassed to be crying in front of someone he barely knows, but Puck doesn't really seem to mind. Kurt stands up and rolls his shoulders.

"Why are you being so nice to me?" He asks, turning back to look at Puck, who is still seated on Sebastian's bed. He looks at Kurt with a confused expression on his face. "I mean…I practically bit everyone's head off in there, I made a dick of myself for millions of people to see, and everyone probably hates me now so why are you even bothering to talk to me?"

Puck furrows his eyebrows. "Look bro, I don't think _everyone_ hates you…"

"Blaine does," Kurt interjects, crossing his arms.

"Just go talk to him," Puck sighs, standing up to push Kurt out the door.

Surprisingly, it doesn't take Kurt much time at all to find Blaine. He is sitting beneath a large, flowering tree, leaning against a small boulder next to one of the many ponds in the main village. Kurt stops in his tracks once he realizes where he is and he's not sure if he wants to throw up or cry because _of course _Blaine would go to the spot where they first kissed, where else would he have gone? Once he nears closer he notices that Blaine is picking up pebbles around him and tossing them lazily into the water. He watches from behind as the rocks fly one after another, spinning through the air before breaking the surface of the water, only creating the tiniest of splashes but wide ripples that spread further out. Kurt spots a rock near his foot so he picks it up and lobs it into the water. Blaine doesn't jump or make any motion to acknowledge that he wasn't alone. Kurt feels his heart sitting heavy in his throat. He walks forward slowly and seats himself to the right of Blaine. Blaine keeps his eyes averted toward the water. Kurt begins to tap his foot against the ground, not entirely sure what to say. After a few moments and a couple more rocks being flown through the air Blaine turns his head ever so slightly, though his eyes stay turned away.

"Hi," Kurt says hesitantly.

"Hello." His tone is completely hollow, and the way his voice falls off and collapses around the "o" makes Kurt's heart break even further. He hopes for a miracle, he hopes that Blaine will somehow understand and they can forget all about any of this. But it doesn't look like any of that is going to happen to he just jumps in and doesn't stop.

"I…Blaine, I swear I didn't mean any of what I said I didn't mean it. I was being dumb, I am dumb. I'm so so dumb and I shouldn't be allowed to talk ever." He trips over his words, desperate for Blaine to grab on to what he was saying and listen. He stays quiet. "Blaine, please say something," he pleads.

"Say what, Kurt? What would you like me to say?" He turns his body completely around to look at Kurt, chucking the last rock he was holding onto the ground next to him. Kurt flinches. "I don't know," Blaine starts, pausing to readjust himself and cross his legs. "I don't know, maybe it's different for your culture but when I hear 'just friends' I don't think about what you and I have." He looks Kurt straight in the eyes. "H-had." Kurt squeezes his eyes shut at Blaine's word usage. They're sitting incredibly close to each other, both with their feet tucked beneath themselves. Blaine leans back and crosses his arms, looking over Kurt's shoulder. They both remain silent, Blaine because he worried if he opens his mouth again the aching in his throat will turn to vocal cries and he doesn't want to be humiliated in the moment any further so he pulls his lips inward and bites on them, blinking and looking upward far too much. Kurt run a hand through his hair, his face contorted as he tries to find something to say.

"I thought the interview was being recorded," he murmurs, looking at the ground. Blaine tilts his head, narrowing his eyes. "I mean, like, I didn't realize it was going to be live..." Kurt looks up to see Blaine's eyebrows raise as he realizes what Kurt is getting at. The sneer on his face causes Kurt's stomach to plummet.

"You thought you would have had time to explain things to me then? Is that it?" He leans forward, incredibly closer to Kurt's face, and rests his chin on his hands. "Well, I'm listening so go ahead and explain. Please." His voice is beyond sarcastic, it's verging on acidic and Kurt cannot muster a drop of anger because he knows he deserves every bit of it.

"I- I'm scared, Blaine. I'm dumb and I'm scared of what people think, and I'm sorry that I hurt your feelings, but I just, I don't know what came over me- I just don't know why, but I didn't want people to know about us so I thought completely avoiding it would be best." Blaine leans back, nodding his head. He pulls his shoe up to tie his already tied shoelace. Kurt waits, listening to his own fast beating heart. Finally, Blaine looks up and Kurt sees that his eyes are slightly red around the rims. _Fuck. _"Blaine?"

"I'm really sorry," he says thickly. His face is so vulnerable in that moment, so open and Kurt is slightly taken back with Blaine's sudden change of emotion. "I'm really, very sorry that I've embarrassed you, that wasn't really my intention." He gets up, kicking one last rock before striding away.

Kurt stumbles, trying to stand up as well. His lips try and fail to form words. He pushes himself up but stays planted on his spot and watches Blaine's retreating figure. "Blaine! No Blaine!" He's yelling now and he doesn't even care how desperate or pathetic his cries sound. "Blaine stop!" And he does. He stops so abruptly that Kurt lets out a small "oh" in surprise. "I didn't mean th-"

"I'm just going to leave you alone, okay? I didn't realize how difficult our relationship was for you. I think it's probably best if we just let it be." His tries entirely too hard to keep a vacant look on his face as he says this, but the tone in his broken voice ruins his cover completely. Before Kurt can say anything in return, Blaine is already walking quickly in the other direction, his shoulder's visibly hunched over.

Kurt returns to their apartment and slinks to his bedroom without saying a word to anyone. They all watch him as he passes by in silence. He shuts the door behind him and crawls into bed, fully intending to fall asleep even though it's only four in the afternoon. His phone buzzes on the nightstand next to him and he blindly reaches for it. It's a text from his dad asking if everything is alright. He checks his other missed texts, some of which are from Rachel, asking what is wrong with him (he ignores those) and a few from Mercedes, informing him, unfortunately, that NBC has already posted his interview on their website, and it has half a million views so far. Kurt stares at his screen, not replying to any of the messages, for far too long. He only somewhat snaps out of his daze when Sebastian comes in the room and as if he knew, takes the phone out of his hands, shuts it off and turns to walk away. Kurt reaches out and grasps onto Sebastian's arm. He doesn't say anything, but Sebastian knows what he wants. He wants not to be alone, he wants to be held, and he wants to know that no matter what, he'll always have his one rock there to hold him steady. Sebastian nudges him over and slides under the covers, wrapping one arm tightly around Kurt's waist. Kurt turns and snuggles into Sebastian's chest. He listens as Sebastian hums quietly, the vibrations strumming through his chest and onto Kurt's cheek. And in the moment, though he's utterly and completely broken, he feels somewhat okay.

* * *

Kurt watches Blaine intensely from his seat. He watches as Blaine climbs the steps reaching up to the springboard. He doesn't know if Blaine has butterflies is his stomach, but he sure does in his own. He hasn't spoken with him since his seemingly final decision to break up, and he wants to make things right again tonight. His whole elaborate plan to win Blaine over again is probably ridiculously cheesy and cliché, but he really doesn't care. What better time to make things right than the night of the final round of Blaine's event? The minutes pass by painfully slow as he watches dive after dive, moving to the edge of his seat every time Blaine's turn came up. Blaine jumps, Kurt holds his breath, Blaine plummets into the water, and Kurt breathes. It's a continued process over and over again.

And then it happens.

It seems as though some higher being has pressed the mute button on the audience. Happy cheers and yells turn into silence as everyone watches in horror as one of his dives turns terribly wrong. It happens in the quickest of a second yet plays out in painfully slow motion. The silence in the air hangs thick; a small intake of breath, a shuffle of feet, the collective shift of eyeballs all watching Blaine and then a sickening slap and crack of his head hitting the board and then he's falling. Kurt thinks he hears himself scream but combine with the gasps and murmurs of the audience behind him, whatever leaves his mouth is immediately drowned completely out. Before Blaine even hits the water there are paramedics jumping in after him. Kurt watches through blurred eyes as the men work together to pull him onto the side of the pool and put him on the waiting stretcher. Kurt notices Blaine's eyes are shut and the medics are taking special care to not move his neck too much. He squeezes his own eyes shut and wills himself not to think of the worst case scenario. They pick up the stretcher and carry it out the side door. Instinctively, Kurt tries to stand and follow after but a hand strongly gripping his thigh stops him. He glances over to look at Sebastian.

"He'll be okay," he says to Kurt. His voice is surprisingly calm though fear is written all over his face and Kurt is sure it's a clear reflection of his own. He nods his head in short, jerky motions.

"Yeah, I know." He breathes, looking down at the bouquet of roses he has planned on giving Blaine when he won gold as an apology. His insides twist into knots, his heart falling into a pool of regret at the pit of his stomach. He wants desperately to tell Blaine he's sorry and he loves him and he doesn't care who knows, he would shout it at a billion people, he would run through his school halls to announce it if that could somehow make Blaine okay. He feel like somehow this is all his fault, even though he knows he held no power over what just happened. Blaine's parents rush down from the stand and towards the door Blaine had just went through. The judges are swarming each other, attempting to regain control of their own minds. The steady buzz of audience members fought its way into Kurt's ears. He feels like he is sitting at the bottom of the deepest pool. He dares himself to open his mouth, he dares himself to breathe but it's too late for he's already drowning.


	5. Chapter 5

"I need to go talk to him." Kurt's voice drifts out quietly to nobody in particular; he doesn't really care if anyone hears him say it. The comment is more for himself, even though everyone is listening, watching, waiting for some sign from him that shows he is acknowledging the situation at all. It has been a couple hours since Blaine's accident. After things in the arena settled down, Sebastian and the rest of the group had pulled Kurt together enough to get him back to their apartment where he now sits, with his back against the cool fabric of the sofa, his face contorted in deep thought, eyes trained straight forward at the bland pattern of the wall in front of him. A few minutes pass and nobody says anything in response, not because they're ignoring him, but rather because none of them can find their own voices. Kurt's head droops slightly as he allows his brain to go fuzzy for just a moment, his mind too tired to think any longer and his stomach increasingly twisting and pulling at ideas and thoughts he was tormenting himself with. He parts his lips, his tongue rolling out to wet his bottom lip. He pauses, catching the taste of salt on the corner of his mouth and begins to wonder what had caused it. He blinks and turns his gaze away from the grey of the wall for the first time in what feels like days and realizes his vision is blurred. He blinks again, furrowing his eyebrows. "I-" he goes to open his mouth and repeat again what he's been saying for the past half an hour, but his voice catches against the base of his throat. He clamps his lips shut, forming a straight thin line against his pale skin and takes a long, shaky breath through his nose. "I need to go talk to him."

Rex looks over at Sebastian who is leaning against the bar on the other side of the room. They share a look of both concern and absolute confusion before Rex bites his lip. Sebastian moves closer and sits on the couch. He doesn't say anything. Rex doesn't say anything. Kurt's eyes return to their glazed-over fixation on the wall. Adrian looks around to room and sighs, finally deciding to get up from his spot on the couch and crouch to Kurt's level, placing a careful hand on his shoulder. Kurt jerks slightly at the contact and turns his head to meet Adrian's stare. "I'm sure he's fine, Kurt. We'll hear from someone soon with an update, I'm sure. His parents will probably call you," he says in what was meant to be a comforting voice, instead it causes Kurt's heart to twist when he realizes how carefully they are treating him, how gently their acting, as though they're dealing with a broken child. He squares his shoulders back and leans away from Adrian.

"I know he's fine…." He begins slowly; everyone looks up in Kurt's direction, hope prominent in their eyes at the sound of him saying words other than the same seven he's been projecting. Their hope falters when Kurt sticks his chin up and states, "That doesn't change the fact that I need to talk to him." Sebastian purses his lips, letting his head hang down.

"Do you," he sighs looking up to see that Kurt isn't paying attention. He tries again, louder this time. "Kurt, do you think he's awake?" The look that Kurt gives him in response is enough to make him wish he hadn't said anything at all.

Sebastian is just trying to find something to say, trying to find some logical ground to stand on in order to bring Kurt back to the surface and Kurt realizes such, he really does. He just ignores it because in this moment, he wants nothing more than to stay just beneath the surface, where he feels safe and warm, and can only slightly notice the dull ache in the center of his chest. He doesn't want to think about Blaine lying unconscious in a stuffy hospital room, or with a brace around his neck, or anything but okay.

After a few more minutes of nothing happening, Kurt decides he's done enough waiting around. He pulls himself up off the ground and heads to the door.

"Whoa, bro. Where are you going?" Rex asks, standing with the rest of the group. Kurt turns to see them all watching him cautiously. He rolls his eyes, only slightly annoyed with his friends' behavior.

"To see Blaine, have you not been listening to me?" He drawls. Sebastian sighs and Rex sits back down.

"Here we go again," Adrian murmurs.

"I'm being serious this time," Kurt insists, though he doesn't quite understand what they're talking about. He doesn't remember getting up before. This is his first time going to the door, isn't it? Nobody responds to him, they just watch to see what he does.

"Kurt, do you want someone to go with you?" Puck finally asks, leaning forward from his chair in the corner. Kurt offers him a small smile; grateful someone is taking him seriously, but shakes his head.

"No, I'm good. I'll be back." They all say their weary goodbyes to him as he shuts the door and walks out into the main lobby and heads toward the help desk, asking for a taxi to the hospital.

* * *

He enters the main doors of the hospital and flinches at the bright lights that flood his eyesight. He pulls his sweater around himself tighter as he recalls the last time he had been in a hospital. The endless nights of pain and worry resurfacing in his mind, he had spent days thinking about whether his father was ever going to wake up again. His mind begins to wander, wondering whether he will have to go through the same thing all over again with Blaine. Luckily someone rushes past him, bumping his shoulder, pulling him away from wherever his mind was traveling to. He shakes his head slightly to regain his sense and looks at the woman who had just rushed past him. He lets out a small gasp as he recognizes the back of the woman's head. He would recognize the thick, dark brown curly hair anywhere.

"Gioia!" He calls her name, and coughs when he realizes how weak his voice still sounds. She stops walking and turns around, slight surprise on her face. She moves closer to close the gap between them and crosses her arms carefully, looking Kurt up and down.

"I thought that was you," she says softly. Kurt tries to read her expression. He can't tell whether the crease between her brows is in response to his presence or the fact that her son is currently in the hospital. Probably the latter, Kurt assures himself.

"I-" he takes a moment to make sure his voice isn't going to fail on him. "Is he okay?" Gioia smiles slightly, closing her eyes and ducking her head before returning to Kurt's gaze.

"He's going to be okay," she answers.

"Going to be," Kurt repeats. She tilts her head at him, her brows furrowing yet again. "I just," Kurt stammers, he can't seem to find any of the right words and the light in the lobby seems to be growing incredibly brighter by the second. "Is he awake?"

"Kurt, honey, do you want to see him?" Kurt feels his chest tighten when she doesn't directly answer his question, but he nods his head regardless, not wanting to miss any chance he could get at seeing Blaine. He follows her down a hallway that is equally bright, and Kurt starts to realize he has a pounding headache. He wonders how long he's had it when a nurse stops them.

"I'm sorry but visiting hours are over," she commented sweetly, lifting her arm up as if to usher them back down the hallway. Kurt see's Gioia roll her eyes and almost giggles at how out of character it seems for her.

"I'm Blaine Anderson's mother," she says airily. The nurse's mouth forms a small "o", apparently understanding, but just as quickly turns her gaze onto Kurt.

"And you are?" She asks, her voice still sweet, but Kurt decides he really doesn't like her.

"He's _fine," _Gioia says, and the nurse raises her eyebrows in response, giving Kurt on last sweeping look before walking away. Kurt is impressed by the firmness and tone of authority Blaine's mother can hold, considering her dainty, petite size, and he smiles gratefully over at her. She returns to smile. Something twists within Kurt's stomach as a thought he had been unconsciously pushing away finally reaches its way to the forefront of his mind.

"Why aren't you mad at me?" He asks carefully, trying to think out exactly how he wants to continue his question. He wants to know, he really does, but he doesn't want to assume anything. Maybe she is mad at him; maybe she hates him for openly denying his relationship with her son. "I mean, have you seen-"

"Dolce cuore," she cuts him off softly, reaching her hand out and rubbing it lightly down Kurt's arm, curving it at his elbow and squeezing gently. "Stop making things of the past, they hardly even matter in the present." She drops her arm after a second and turns to continue down the hallway. Kurt follows, playing over what she just said to him, not completely understanding the meaning behind it. They get into an elevator and she hits a button for the 4th floor. Bypassing, Kurt notices with relief, the 3rd floor which houses the ICU. They stay quiet for the short ride up, the only noise being the short beep of the elevator stopping and the doors sliding open.

They travel a little further down yet another hall and Kurt can't help but peer into open doors along the way, some are inhabited, some not. He notices nurses are watching him carefully as they pass by. He wonders if any of them actually recognize him as Gold-medal winning Diver Kurt Hummel, or if they are just eyeing him because they knew that Mrs. Anderson didn't have any other sons, and regular visiting hours were over almost two hours ago by now. Nobody says anything though, or tries to stop them so he isn't too worried, and eventually Gioia stops walking and turns to face Kurt.

"This is his room," she says, indicating towards the door they were currently standing in front of. He waits for her to go in so he can follow behind but when she doesn't move. "Go in. It's fine, I'll come back in a little while." He starts to protest but she holds her hand up to stop him. "I was going to the cafeteria to grab something to eat when we ran into each other anyway, trust me." She smiles at him in a way so that all he can do is swallow the nerves back down into his stomach and nod. She turns him gently towards the door, offers him another nod, and then she's gone. Back down the hall, heading to the elevator. Kurt turns to watch her retreating figure, stalling to go inside until he finally turns back to the door. He pauses for a few moments too long, letting his fingers rest against the door handle. He knows he has to go in, and he knows everything is going to be alright, eventually if not now. But even so, he still feels his chest tighten as he turns the handle. He can feel himself nearing closer to the surface, growing dangerously towards the act of fully breathing again and before he can let that scare him too much he pushes the door all the way open and slips inside.

The sight he is met with loosens the knot in his stomach, if only by a little bit. Blaine is lying in bed with his head propped up and supported by a million and a half pillows. There was no brace around his neck, or bandages wrapped around his head. Just an incredibly swollen nose with tape over the crooked bridge and an already dark purple bruise painted across his right cheek bone, and –Kurt notices, as he shuts the door, moving closer to Blaine's side- a cast on his left wrist. He watches Blaine's sleeping face, staring at the way his long eyelashes create shadows across his cut-up skin in the poor lighting of the room. He doesn't realize he's holding his breath until Blaine's eyes flutter open and he's feeling the air escape frantically through his nose.

"Kurt?" Blaine asks, and his voice is surprisingly strong, stronger than Kurt's has been all day. He smiles; a real, honest, heart-warming smile and Kurt can't help but smile back. He continues to smile until Blaine attempts to sit up more and ends up flinching and falls back onto the pillows, a horrible grimace replacing his easy grin.

"Oh, Blaine." Kurt steps forward then immediately back, unsure of what to do with himself. Blaine takes notice to Kurt's behavior and reaches his good arm out to grab onto Kurt's wrist, pulling him closer to the bed.

"I'm fine. Just a few scrapes and bruises. I'll be alright." Kurt doesn't say anything; he just continues to stare at Blaine face before moving his gaze to the casted arm. "Well and a broken arm," he comments, watching Kurt. "I can't believe I was stupid enough to try to break my hit against the board AND ended up still whacking my face against it." He lets out a low chuckle at his misfortune, though Kurt doesn't join in. "Hey," Blaine murmurs softly, pushing up Kurt's jacket sleeve and rubbing his thumb against the exposed skin. "Hey, it's alright Kurt." Kurt shakes his head, trying his best to keep the tight grin on his face as he feels blindly behind himself for the chair he noticed when he first walked in. He finally finds it and settles into the cool, plastic-y feel of the fake leather armchair.

"You hit your head, Blaine. Hard." Blaine tilts his head as Kurt says this, and Kurt can't help but notice the similarities between his and his mother's movements. It makes his lips curve up in a small grin, but there is still heavy concern hanging it his eyes.

"I did? Well that explains the concussion then," Blaine jokes. Kurt leans his head back, he can't tell if he's annoyed that Blaine isn't taking anything seriously or if he's more annoyed with himself _for _taking it so seriously.

"Does your nose hurt? Or your head, or anything?" He asks, trying to find something to say, but then kicks himself because _obviously _his nose hurts. His everything probably hurts. Kurt has been lucky enough to not get in any accidents in his diving career as of yet, but he can imagine it isn't too fun.

Blaine just shrugs his good shoulder, "It did, but they gave me pain killers earlier so it's a little better. But not the good stuff, they couldn't give me extra strength because my concussion I guess." He leans over slightly, ignoring the pain in his back when he does and looks into Kurt's eyes with complete seriousness. Kurt finds himself leaning forward, eager to listen to whatever Blaine is about to tell him. "Do you think you could get me some Vicodin?" Kurt laughs and swats at Blaine's arm, immediately crying out an apology with Blaine flinches back at the contact.

After a while they fall back into easy conversation. Blaine laughs as Kurt attempts, and fails miserably, to read from one of Blaine's Italian magazines. They play a few rounds of I Spy, but things get old quickly when they run out of "something gray" things to use. This is nice, Kurt decides. He's happy; he sees that Blaine is okay, they're joking with each other; Blaine is giving him that look again, the look of complete trust and happiness. His heart flutters at the idea that things could possibly go back to normal again.

"Kurt I was so stupid," Blaine stops midsentence of whatever he was saying and blurts it out. Kurt turns his head away from the television that was currently airing a cartoon he has never even heard of. He turns it down and uncrosses his legs to lean forward more in the chair.

"Honey, it was an accident. Accidents happen all the time." He stokes a cautious hand down Blaine's arm until he reaches his fingers and wraps his own around them.

Blaine shakes his head, "No. Not about the dive, I'm talking about us."

Kurt's hand freezes, he rearranges his facial features so it looks like he's still calm, though he can feel his heart increasing speed by the second. Blaine shifts in his bed so he is facing Kurt more and takes a deep breath.

"I was thinking about you when," he bites his lip. "When I missed the dive, I was thinking about you. I couldn't stop thinking about us. I haven't stopped thinking about us." Kurt shuts his eyes, willing the sudden blurriness to go away. He feels like the room is spinning as his insides clench is a sickened twist of knots. He is the reason Blaine got hurt, he's the reason Blaine is currently lying in a stupid hospital bed, and not celebrating the victory he deserves. He knew such all along; he just hasn't had the will to tell himself that.

Blaine takes notice to Kurt's reaction and groans lowly. Kurt shoots his head up to look at Blaine, blinking away his guilt-induced tears. "Are you okay? Do you need something? I can call the nurse." He looks frantically toward the door.

"No! No, I'm fine. Kurt I didn't want to tell you those things to make you feel bad, none of this is your fault," he says, gesturing to himself. "Not at all. But when I was standing up on the board, I couldn't help but realize how stupid I was being." Kurt furrows his eyebrows, still not catching on to what Blaine is talking about. Blaine looks up at the ceiling, trying to sort out his thoughts. "I…I get it Kurt. I get why you were so scared about us, you had every right to be. The other day you were trying to explain it to me and I'm just too stubborn and dumb to listen." He tries giving Kurt a smile, but anxiety is clear in his eyes.

"I'm not embarrassed of you," Kurt murmurs in a choked off voice. Blaine lets out a tiny, surprised laugh. He turns his hand over to grips Kurt's tighter.

"I know that. It's my fault. I blew things out of proportion and I'm sorry for that, I'm really really sorry." His voice is earnest, and full of emotion, more emotion than Kurt has ever heard from him. His eyes widen at the sound of it, his heart pushing against his rib cage.

"Blaine, no it's my fault. I shouldn't have to feel like I'm hiding with you, it's not fair for either of us and. Oh my god- the flowers! I forgot the flowers back at the apartment. Shit." He looks around the room, before his eyes fall back on Blaine, his shoulders slumping. "I have flowers for you."

"Flowers?" Blaine giggles. Kurt sticks his head out, face shining with desperation.

"Yes! Flowers! I had this whole plan! I bought a bouquet of roses, and I was going to run down to the pool side after you won your gold and give them to you and show everyone just how much I love you and-"

"Kurt!" Blaine laughs, cutting of Kurt's small rant. He tugs at his arm are hard as he can with hurting his muscles anymore and Kurt makes a surprised noise in the back of his throat and he's being pulled out of his arm chair.

"What?" He asks, leaning down closer to Blaine's face.

"You said you love me." Kurt feels his heart stutter for a moment as he recalls his last few words. His eyes widen and Blaine's smile grows impossibly wider.

"I did," he smiles, leaning down even further. "I do."

"No, I do," Blaine whispers, trying to push his head up enough to reach Kurt. Kurt smiles more and leans the rest of the way down, pulling Blaine's lips into a soft kiss. He's careful not to bump his nose or any bruises and settles for a gentle, closed mouth kiss, but Blaine reaches his good hand up and cups Kurt's cheek in a surprisingly tight grasp. He parts his lips, moving his jaw slightly to deepen the kiss further and Kurt feels Blaine's face muscles tremor at movement. He laughs softly against Blaine's hot, open mouth and pulls away, placing his lips at the corner of Blaine's jaw- the only place that seems to be completely unharmed. Blaine nuzzles against his touch and whines in protest.

"Later," Kurt whispers, leaning into Blaine's ear, only making Blaine whine more. "You need to sleep, really."

"They have to wake me up every three hours," he grumbles, watching Kurt through drooping eyelids. Kurt laughs, dropping himself back into the armchair and pulling it closer to Blaine's side. He leans his arms against the mattress and Blaine immediately wraps his fingers around Kurt's wrist, pulling him flush against his side. Kurt sighs, laying his head as gently as possibly onto Blaine's chest, shutting his eyes and listening to the steady thump of Blaine's heart.

''Cause the concussion Blaine, they have to." He comments quietly. Blaine grunts in response and it send a vibration through Kurt's cheek. "Sleep," Kurt says.

"Stay with me?" Blaine asks, and his voice sounds so small and Kurt is pretty sure a piece of his heart just broke off.

"Of course," he answers, and then adds, "Until your mom gets back." He feels Blaine's fingers tighten around his wrist and hears the beat of his heart quicken ever so slightly against his ear.

"No," he whispers, sleep evident in his voice. "Stay." A tiny breath of air somewhere between a sigh and a weird chuckle escapes from his mouth. "Stay forever," he mutters, his words almost jumble together too much, but Kurt catches what he says. He uses his hand that isn't trapped under Blaine grasp to reach down and hold onto Blaine's hip, squeezing it carefully from above the covers.

He stays like that, hands not leaving Blaine's body until he hears soft snores sounding from above his head. He looks up to see Blaine's lips slightly parted, his jaw hanging just barely to the side. He slips out from under Blaine's arm and leans back into the chair, watching as Blaine readjusts himself in his sleep, his brows furrowing as his subconscious notices a change of temperature against his side. Kurt bites his lip, hoping Blaine doesn't wake. He smiles when all Blaine does is pull his blanket up closer to his chin, mumbling incoherent nothings in his sleep. Kurt leans his own head against the uncomfortable back of the chair and shuts his eyes, wishing Blaine's mother will take a long, long time to come back.


End file.
